"President Bush, too, has repeatedly set himself up as the test case of what happens when you try to play nice with a Democrat. After the dignified staff of the dignified former president trashed the White House on their dignified exit, Bush downplayed the property damage, saying: "There might have been a prank or two. Maybe somebody put a cartoon on the wall, but that's OK."

Anyone who knew anyone moving into the Bush White House knew that it was more than a "prank or two." But instead of stopping while they were ahead, pocketing Bush's gracefulness and moving on, the Democrats aggressively attacked Republicans for having falsely accused the Clinton staff of trashing the White House. They cited Bush's magnanimity as evidence that this was a lie. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., demanded an apology from the White House. USA Today ran a snippy article titled "Ex-Clinton staffers on vandalism: Got proof?" Former Clinton press secretary Jake Siewert insinuatingly asked why there were no records of the alleged damage.

And then the full GAO report came back: The Party of the People had done $15,000 worth of property damage to the People's House. Extend an olive branch to Democrats and they bite your hand off.
[...]

This is as we have come to expect from a family [The Kennedys] of heroin addicts, statutory rapists, convicted and unconvicted female-killers, cheaters, bootleggers and dissolute drunks known as "Camelot." Why would anyone want such people as their "good friends"?"

I gagged on my coffee as I read about Thabo Mbeki's remarks at the opening of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, where he again asserted that the way to eliminate poverty is for the West to provide more aid. This recurring theme, belies reality.
The correlation between wealth and individual freedom, the rule of law, and the protection of property rights on the one hand, and poverty and statism, anarchy and no property rights on the other, stands up to any contrived study by any one of a multitude of self-serving United Nations committees. The developed world can throw all the capital it wants at the Third. As long as the latter continues to disregard these fundamental truths, the longer it will sink into a pit of hopeless despair.

"Why wouldn't we want to screen for them?" Robert Hare said yesterday after a speech to 150 members of the Canadian Police Association. "We screen ... police, teachers. Why not people who are going to handle hundreds of billions of dollars?"

Well, that was a logical argument. Right.

I'm going to enjoy watching this one. I am looking forwards to seeing lefties who decry the idea of random drug screening and racial profiling adopting this idea with glee.

Oh, and of course, there's nothing about a proposal to screen politicians who control amounts of money many, many times greater that a corporation does. Oh, and control armies, police forces, social service bureaucracies, taxation, the powers of expropriation, etc, etc, etc.......

Dr. Hare, a world-renowned expert on psychopaths, made his remarks at the conclusion of a sobering presentation littered with photos of Mafia hit men and sex offenders.

John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Paul Bernardo, Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers... Oh just fuck off. Corporate fraud is not and never will be equivalent to the torture and murder of human beings. Murdering a billion dollars is simply not comparable to murdering a human being. So sorry, Mr. Hare (I am not going to extend you the respect of the title you have supposedly earned.), but the Hollywood portrayal of CEOs as murdering psychopaths to be unmasked has no basis in reality.

Oh wait, that's right, isn't it, the powerful corporate executives own the justice system and can buy their way out of anything, yadda, yadda, yadda, which is why Ken Lay is still the head of Enron, which is still a global collossus ruling the poor wage slaves like a king.

While we're on it then, let's have psychological screening for bloggers too. There's too much of an intellectual imbalance in the blogosphere (anti-idiotarian) which is clearly the result of unleashed psychosis (non-liberal-left thinking)

Oh- and just one thing- if a science fiction show performed like this, it would be moved to the "ass end of beyond" timeslot and the viewers wouldn't be notified. What are the odds that is going to happen to Donahue? Zip-Zilch-Nada.

(Related bitch point- when the networks do that sort of move to a sci fi show, they usually do it twice more and they then cancel it six months later, citing that the show has not been able to grow an adequate audience. Really? And why would that be? Sitcoms, on the other hand, seem to get infinite mercy. )

Deep tensions between Britain and the US have emerged ahead of the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, which remains shrouded in pessimism ahead of its official start today.

The summit is aimed at reducing world poverty poverty prosperity through promoting environmentally sustainable growth, and although it is seen as the most important world summit for years, there are growing concerns that virtually nothing significant will be achieved. ...after all- history repeats itself.

As the gloom deepened in the corridors [CUE: Deep, Melancholy music], it seems many delegates are staying away. Although 65,000 delegates had been predictected to turn up, the UN has downgraded its expectations to just 40,000, and by yesterday only 9,000 delegates and journalists had been accredited. Fantastic! We have achieved Sustainable Development in international summits!

Last night it also emerged that in spite of the extra 8,000 police on duty, that a shot had been fired at a Swiss delegate in an attempted robbery in a hotel. It followed the earlier robbery on Saturday night of another delegate in a nearby room.

The UK has backed calls from developing countries for targets to reduce the number of people who don’t have access to drinking water, sanitation or electricity. This anecdote says it all. The UN has warned that unless real progress is made, the world will be increasingly divided between haves and have nots,Incorrect: as per Virginia Postrel in the NYT fuelling global terrorism.

However, the US yesterday made clear that it does not want any new targets and will not provide any new money to reduce poverty or help protect the environment. The head of the US delegation [CUE: Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme from The Empire Strikes Back)] John Turner said yesterday: “We don’t see the need for any new targets.”

Although 100 world leaders have said they will attend the summit, President Bush has said he will not attend. The head of the British delegation, the Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, yesterday showed growing frustration with American intransigence, which could derail the summit. She said: “It’s true that the American government is not doing as much as we would all like to see it do, but that’s doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of people in America who take these issues just as seriously as they deserve”. You're right Margaret. What a government does isn't necessarily indicative that there isn't an opposing view at home. Little thing called democracy you know. Although, given that even the New York Times isn't with you might indicate that maybe there aren't that many people "who take these issues just as seriously as they deserve"

“We very much want to see targets on issues like sanitation. We hope to pursuade our American friends to agree to some of the targets” she added.
Sure. Just as soon as the EU agrees on the targets that the US has been busy selecting in Iraq.

After a year of talks, no agreement has been reached on more than a quarter of the negotiating text, and there is concern that positions are now so entrenched that it will be impossible to reach any meaningful agreement in the ten days of the summit. One UN official warned that failure to resvolve outstanding issues could render the summit useless, and said they were not optimistic about progress.
Excellent. That isn't a bug, it's a feature.

“We hope to make some headway by the start of the summit. So far, what we forsee is a complete disaster” he said.

South Africa’s deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad, insisted that while he was confident that common ground could be reached, “it would be romantic to assume that there would be absolute consensus at such a large-diverse conference.” See earlier in the article- "it is seen as the most important world summit for years", and South Africa a country with lots to gain from the Summit sends its Assistant Foreign Minister. What does this tell you?

Tony Juniper, director-designate of Friends of the Earth, Who was unable to meet up with his opposite, Hank Rearden, Director-Dictator of Enemies of The Earth said that there was now little chance of the summit achieving anything significant. “I think it’s looking like we’re going to get a pretty modest set of outcomes. It’s clear that we’re going to get no legally binding targets” (Again, not a bug, but a feature) he said. Friends of the Earth has been very critical of Tony Blair’s decision to attend the summit for just one day.

Mr Blair also came under attack from his most senior environment adviser, Jonathan Porritt, who said he didn’t give environmental issues the priority they deserve.Just wondering- how would the media respond to Ken Lay declaring that the President wasn't giving Oil issues the attention they deserve? Self interest? Nahhhh. Yesterday Mrs Beckett defended the Prime Minister, saying he had been fully involved in the summit. “The idea that all he brings to the summit is the time he spends here is crazy. He’s been working on it for 18 months - he’s been engaged and involved in it all the way through” she said.

Mrs Beckett also insisted that it would be a disaster if the delegates let the growing row with Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe, to overshadow the summit. Mr Blair had been facing calls to boycott a speach (Much the same way the Times has boycotted Spell-checking before printing) by Mr Mugabe, who will be attending the summit at the same time as Mr Blair. “The most important and crucial thing is to make sure the summit is not dominated by the issue of Robert Mugabe. There is nothing President Mugabe would like better than to think a whole world summit has been hijacked by his behaviour and his concerns” said Mrs Beckett. Haruumph! How dare those people try to seize the spotlight from us with their starving to death! We're trying to do something Important here to help the downtrodden and oppressed of the world!Really!

The start of the summit has already been overshadowed by the highly televised clash between protestors and police in the centre of Johannesbug. Activists claimed that police, who fired stun grenades at a candle-lit demonstration which included children, were being heavy handed. No Prize to whoever can find a time that protestors have not called Police action "Heavy-Handed". However, Johannesburg’s Police Director Happy Schutter defended their action, saying that the marchers had not obtained permission. “We had to show them we wouldn’t let this happen during the summit. If they want to march they must get permission” he said.

The South African government has been worried that the summit could be as disrupted by protests as earlier summits such as Genoa, and have drafted in tens of thousands of police from surrounding areas. The Sandton City shopping and hotel complex has been cordoned off to outsiders, with incredibly tight security both surrounding it and inside. The organisers have been worried about actions by terrorists since this is the first meeting of world leaders since September 11th, (The G8 Summit In Canada doesn't count. I guess those aren't the real World leaders in the UN's fantasy world- where Mummar Gadhafi can head the UN's Human Rights body.) and is taking place just before the anniversary of the attack on the US.

Ahem. Let's try a different tack. Until the rest of the world stops following a the failed socialist and totalitarian models and embrace democracy which a) respects the rights of the individual b) leaves capitalism more or less to its own ends c) lets people keep their own earnings, poverty will be the continuing result. Poverty was around for a long time before capitalism evolved, and it's only been since that evolution that humanity has moved away from its short dirty life and moved towards individual fulfillment and happiness. Blaming the system that makes this possible for the failures of the rest of the world who want nothing to do with they system in absurd. It's like a couch potato blaming his own sloth and unhealthiness on an athelete because the athelete has the ill grace to go exercise and eat right.

Keynesianism goes out of fashion in academia. Well- at least in some of the Economics departments out there. It'll never go away in the other non-economics departments.

Harvard economists once thought cutting government spending was contractionary, something that would shrink the private economy. The Alesina study finds that big cuts in government spending are expansionary, making economies boom. Ireland slashed government spending by more than 7percent of GDP in 1986-89, and economic growth from 1989 to 2001 averaged 7.2 percent per year. Japan spent hundreds of billions on Keynesian public works schemes after 1991, and economic growth averaged only 1.1 percent. Part of the explanation is taxes. Ireland now has a 15 percent tax on corporate profits, a 20 percent tax on inflation-indexed capital gains and lower tax rates on labor. Japan imposed new taxes on sales, property and capital gains, while maintaining Asia's most punitive income-tax rates. Alesina found that "labor taxes have the largest negative impact on profits and investment," partly because private workers "react to tax hikes or more generous transfer payments by decreasing the labor supply or asking for higher pretax real wages." But this study also found that big government spending is inherently bad for economic growth, even aside from taxes. Government hiring and pay raises lure workers from private businesses, which are forced to raise wages even if that means reduced hiring. Higher labor costs per employee depress profits and investment. Many other new studies find equally bad effects of big government on economic growth. In the May issue of the same journal, for example, Ed Prescott of the University of Minnesota found that "differences in the consumption and labor tax rates in France and the United States account for virtually all of the 30 percent difference in the labor input per working-age person." Mr. Prescott calculates that the French would be 19 percent better off if they had a tax system no worse than ours.

Isn't the fact that it would make the french better off a recommendation against supply side economics?

Mr.Robey was- so was the handgun that he had a permit to carry concealed.

Phillip C. Nelson, 42, of 2145 Barker Blvd. died at Lee Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after being shot.

Ernest Major, 22, who moved to Lee County from West Palm Beach last month, suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen, arm and leg, Chard said. He was listed in critical but stable condition Saturday night at Lee Memorial Hospital.

Although he remains in the hospital, deputies arrested him on charges of attempted murder, attempted robbery and felony murder, a charge that can be imposed when somebody dies while in the commission of a crime, said Lee Lt. Richard Dobson.
[....]

Early Saturday, his daughter still sleeping, Robey ordered room service. When it didn’t come immediately he headed to the hotel’s office for a danish and coffee.

“They were most likely waiting for a victim, and saw him walk back to his room,” Dobson said.

A few minutes after he got back to the room, there was a knock at the door.

Instead of a hotel employee with breakfast, Nelson was standing there and asked for money, with Major standing off to the side, according to a report. Investigators said when Robey refused and tried to shut the door, the men pushed their way into the room.

Nelson forced Robey onto the bed holding a gun to his head.

At the same time, Major grabbed Robey’s daughter and dragged her into the bathroom.

Investigators said that’s when Robey reached for his loaded semi-automatic pistol he had hidden under his pillow, quickly loading a round into the chamber.

Robey turned and fired at Nelson who still held the gun to his head, hitting him several times. Detectives did not discuss the wounds, citing the ongoing investigation.

Then he turned to Major, who was holding his daughter, and emptied the gun at him.

Detectives think Major fired back with a small-caliber handgun at some point, although he did not hit Robey.
“He was in fear for his life, and his daughter’s,” Chard said.

Never abdicate your right to self defense. Despite evey claim the state makes that it secures your safety, it will not be there for you when you need it to be. The Police are generally only good for two things in relation to crime- deterring it in the first place, and when that fails, cleaning up and investigating after the fact. The chance that they will be there to actively half a crime is vanisingly small.